Unless, you’re an Alabama fan, the matchup couldn’t be any better.
In the first Nick Saban-free national championship game in five years, top-ranked LSU (14-0) will take on reigning champion Clemson (14-0) in New Orleans. Heisman Trophy winner and prospective 2020 No. 1 NFL Draft pick (Joe Burrow) will battle the preseason Heisman favorite and probable 2021 No. 1 NFL Draft pick (Trevor Lawrence).
LSU appears unstoppable, following its 63-28 Peach Bowl thrashing of Oklahoma. Clemson hasn’t been stopped in two seasons, overcoming a 16-point deficit to defeat previously undefeated Ohio State, 29-23, in the Fiesta Bowl.
For just the second time in nine years, both finalists enter the title game with a perfect record. Each offense averages more than 45 points. Each defense features future first-round picks. Each fan should expect a classic come Jan. 13.
Here are some storylines to watch heading into the title game:
Going home
Somehow, LSU’s four most recent national championship game appearances have all come at the Superdome. Home field helped in 2004 when LSU beat Oklahoma, 21-14, and also in 2008, when LSU topped Ohio State, 38-24. However LSU’s most recent title game ended in humiliation, with a 21-0 loss to Alabama in 2012.
A new dynasty
Saban may have built the greatest dynasty in college football history, but Dabo Swinney has the most dominant team of the playoff era. Making its fourth national title game appearance in five years, Clemson could become the first back-to-back champion since the playoff was created, the first repeat champion since Alabama (2011-12) and the first team to go undefeated in consecutive national championship seasons since Nebraska (1994-95). Since 1918, Clemson’s 29-game win streak sits behind just five teams. With Lawrence returning to school for one more season and another soft ACC schedule waiting, Clemson is a favorite to return to the playoff, with the potential of inching toward Oklahoma’s untouchable 47-game win streak and the sport’s first three-peat since the mid-1930’s.
A familiar underdog
Swinney will be thrilled. The team playing Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” in the locker room, following Saturday’s win, can play the underappreciated card once again. LSU opened as a 3-point favorite. Quickly, the line jumped to five. For the seventh time in nine playoff games, Clemson is the underdog. When Clemson broke a 34-year championship drought with its last-second win in 2015, Alabama was a 5½-point favorite. When Clemson annihilated Alabama, 44-16, last year, it was a 6½-point favorite. Straight up, favorites are 2-3 in College Football Playoff national championship games. In LSU’s most recent title game, it lost as the top-ranked team.
Unexpected leaders
Long ago, Swinney was a wide receivers’ coach, thrust into the role of interim head coach, when Tommy Bowden resigned midway through the 2008 season. With a third national championship ring as head coach, Swinney, 50, would join legends such as Knute Rockne, Urban Meyer, Tom Osborne and Bud Wilkinson. When Saban was 57, he had one title. Ed Orgeron, who was fired after three losing seasons at Ole Miss and was passed over after serving as interim coach at USC, again was named a midseason replacement, when LSU fired Les Miles in the midst of the 2016 season. Oregeron has previous championship game experience as an assistant at Miami and USC.
The irresistible force and the immovable object
It’s easy to forget Alabama was making a case as the greatest team of all time one year ago. It was the first team since 1888 to win its first 12 games by at least 20 points. The offense averaged nearly 48 points. The quarterback was a Heisman runner-up and potential No. 1 overall NFL pick. Then, Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables drew up schemes that forced a pair of Tua Tagovailoa interceptions and left Alabama scoreless for the game’s final 2 ¹/₂ quarters. On Saturday, Clemson’s top-ranked defense held the nation’s highest-scoring offense to its lowest point total of the season. LSU hasn’t scored fewer than 37 points since October, but a defense allowing an average of 11.5 points and 151.5 passing yards — led by All-American linebacker Isaiah Simmons and the second-highest paid coordinator in college football — may be the only team capable of slowing down the first-ever combination of 5,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher (Clyde Edwards-Helaire) and two 1,000-yard receivers (Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson). The only coordinator making more than Venables? LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda.